Dear Wildwood Parents and Friends,
Book Return Deadline
The cool weather this spring has distracted us from the realization of how close we are to the end of the school year. With the sudden coming of June, the library staff must turn its attentions to that annual task of getting all of our materials back from students, interns, substitutes, teachers, parents, other Amherst schools, home-schooled students and community members. Our final due date this year is Monday, June 13th.
We try to make this date late, so that students and teachers can continue to use library materials for as long as possible. However, we do need time to gather in, shelve, take inventory, and make phone calls, send notes and bills to those who have not returned library books. You can help us out by ensuring that your student returns all of his/her books by Monday, June 13th. If your student is leaving school before June 13th, please be sure all his/her library books are returned before your student's departure date. Any book that is not returned must be either paid for or replaced. If you find the book over the summer and return it in good useable condition in September, we will refund your payment. Please contact me at 362-1424 if you have any questions or concerns.
For the past four years our library has made returning books a little more interesting by instituting our "Great Book Return Raffle." Each student who returns his/her books by the final due date (June 13th this year) may enter a raffle for one of thirteen prize boxes based on various themes of interest to students. Students choose which prize box raffle they would like to enter. The drawing of winning names will be held at 3 pm on Monday, June 13th and posted the following morning. This eagerly awaited event has dramatically reduced the number of unreturned books.
Summer Reading
The Jones Library, North Amherst and Munson Libraries will all be conducting summer reading programs for students in the elementary grades. Encourage your children to participate and keep up with all the great books that come out throughout the summer. The Wildwood website (www.arps.org/ww) includes a link to the Library where you will find other links to a number of recommended reading lists. Also on the Wildwood Library website, the link to the Massachusetts Children's Book Award program will include the nominees for the 2005/2006 season, once the list becomes available.
Thank You
A special thanks to the Rotary for its donation of $500 to the Wildwood Library, in appreciation for our school's participation in collecting well over 500 books for the Reader-to-Reader program. This organization distributes books to schools without well-stocked libraries. Thanks to all the families who contributed books in March and April.
Budget Cuts
The Wildwood Library will undergo a major transition this coming September. Due to budget cuts, we will lose three part-time library assistants. While their 36 hours add up to just over the equivalent of one full-time assistant, the expertise that these people have brought to our library is much greater than any one person could have given us. I would like to recognize their special skills and thank them for providing the students and staff of Wildwood with a fabulous teaching library.
Barbara Cooper joined the library in February, 1999. We have been most fortunate to have Barbara, a certified school librarian, with a Masters degree in Library Science for these six and a half years. Barbara is a highly skilled educator, presenting lessons on all aspects of library information skills including note taking, outlining, and various research skills. She has a wonderful way of making her lessons clear, doable, and interesting. Her editing skills are without equal and she has guided many a student to a real polishing of his/her written work. When reading to young students, her style is always captivating and she makes the books come alive.
Barbara also has great expertise in the highly technical task of cataloging books. This is one of those areas that most people aren't even aware of. Every book we receive must be examined for proper subject headings and a call number assigned before that title can be entered onto the MARC database. Unless this process is handled accurately, books would be as good as lost, since no one would be able to find them. Although we often get records from the Library of Congress, they are frequently faulty or incomplete or not relevant to our library. Barbara is always searching for a better way of making our collection available to students and teachers by making sure that every book (new or old) is catalogued for maximum searchability on our computer catalogue.
Andrea Tulenko-Catlin, a former Wildwood student, has been a member of the library staff since February, 2003. Andrea has a degree in engineering and worked in that field until industry layoffs brought her to us. Andrea has young children herself and so is very much in touch with current children's literature. She is great at making recommendations for students looking for just the right book to capture their interest. She has the utmost patience in guiding students through their research projects and has excellent research skills herself, which she imparts to them. She is a friendly face that students feel very comfortable seeking out. Andrea is most definitely a "can do" person. Because of past budget cuts, the library now administers a varied collection of AV equipment. Andrea's special skills have proved invaluable in this area. She is someone who actually enjoys reading manuals and can fix the VCR, DVD, walkie-talkies, projectors, etc. that always seem to malfunction when people need them most. Andrea's computer skills and knowledge of many software programs serves both the staff and students when they have problems using the computers. Andrea is also to be credited with creating and maintaining the Wildwood Library website.
Pat Sedgwick, who also works in the Amherst Regional High School and Fort River Libraries, comes to us for five hours a week. Pat processes our magazines, donations, replacements and takes care of other tasks to get these materials on the shelves and ready for our students and staff. Her presence has become all the more critical because of two previous budget cuts. Three years ago we lost our district-wide processing clerk and last year we lost nine hours of Andrea's position. So we have needed Pat to help with a multitude of jobs. Pat never knows what we will ask her to do when she arrives; but because of her expertise in two other Amherst school libraries, she is ready for anything. She immediately forged a relationship with our first grade classes this year, learning their names and greeting them as friends, thus adding another personal touch to their early library experience. Fifth grade students often receive Pat's help with their research and sixth graders have an extra pair of eyes examining their PowerPoint presentations. Pat's artistic talents enhance our large mural display throughout the year. Pat is a ray of sunshine in our windowless library.
A library is a complex place, with many of the tasks necessary to its success, hidden from view. If it looks like it runs itself, it is because of the hard work and commitment of its staff. There are not enough words to express all that Barbara, Andrea and Pat have done for the Wildwood Library. As I contemplate the warm personalities and specialized skills they bring to us, I recognize that two of us, Deanna Pearlstein (the remaining less than full-time library assistant) and myself, cannot possibly carry out the mission of the library in the manner we have all become accustomed to. We are just beginning to assess the impact of this loss and the effects it will have on students and staff in the coming school year. In these remaining weeks, please take a moment to stop by the library and thank Barbara, Andrea and Pat for all that they have given to our school and your children.
Elaine Donoghue - Librarian